This invention relates to the manufacture of brick and more particularly to a setter or hacker for accumulating rows of raw cut clay bricks and stacking them into courses on a kiln car in preparation for the firing or curing thereof. Either simultaneously or in preparation for this transfer it is necessary to separate adjacent rows of brick so that the hot air in the kiln can circulate between the rows thereof and cure the brick from all sides. Several general types of apparatuses have been developed for performing this function.
First of all, in a first type of apparatus as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. to Lingl 3,270,897 and U.S. Pat. No. to Bason 3,260,379, the rows are lifted while adjacent each other either by application of force against the end of the rows or suction on the top of each brick in the row. The rows are then separated while held up by the grippers prior to the time they are deposited on the kiln car.
Another and earlier type of apparatus first delivers the bricks to a spread table where the rows are spaced apart, then utilizes a vast number of gripping members, each of which grips the sides or ends of a single brick and are introduced between adjacent rows of bricks for this purpose. Such types of apparatus are illustrated by the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Luce 1,601,868 and 1,709,138.
A third type of setter or hacker or brick handling frame is known in the prior art in which rows of brick are initially spaced apart on some type of spread table, air expandable grippers are inserted in the spaces between each pair of adjacent rows, and air is introduced to flexible bags of grippers which expand outwardly and grab the adjacent bricks therebetween. Examples of such types of air bag frames include the U.S. Pat. No. to Francis 3,161,431; the U.S. Pat. No. to Huffman 2,609,113; the Canadian Pat. No. to Wikdahl 611,168; and the Belgian Pat. No. to AFMA 539,465. In more recent years apparatuses as illustrated and described in the U.S. Pat. No. to Pearne et al 3,716,264 and U.S. Pat. No. to Jones 4,119,217 have appeared on the market. While each of these types of setters has been able to successfully grip and transport a course of brick, there are certain disadvantages prevelant in each. For example, the lower portion of the bag is subject to extreme wear because of its constant engagement with the rough surfaces of bricks and the plate onto which it is lowered, the structural design make such setters subject to considerable maintenance since the individual grippers are not structurally substantial. Further, some problems are noted as far as the speed with which the air bags are expanded and evacuated.